Welcome Friends
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You've found a great place to come
and vent, share or ask for prayer support.
This is a great group who will be very
encouraging, caring and loving....
....anyone is welcome to join!

A Servant's Prayer --

Jesus, My Jesus....How marvelous are your ways....
Far more splendid than my mind can envision.
What an honor to be chosen by you.
A lowly child I am, but empowered by the Holy Spirit
to fulfill the great hope to which you have called me.
I give myself totally to you, Lord.
Take my imperfect heart and make it perfect.
Peel away the hardness.
Close the doors I have opened to the temptations of this world.
Gently remove the roots of painful memories, sins, doubts and fears.
Discard anything that separates me from you.
Lord, fill the emptiness with the light of your love
that I might be a beacon calling the lost back to you.

To love as you love.....
To serve as you serve.....
To forgive as you forgive.....
Always mindful of my nothingness while doing great
and marvelous things in your name and for your glory.
This I pray, Jesus, in YOUR name ...
Amen.

So right you are, TRISH ... here's our new MAY thread! We have been side-tracked the last couple of days. DH heard that a good friend of his is in a coma, and he's been very upset (we put a prayer request in for him in the Prayer Warriors Thread). Been trying to keep things light around here for him.

We had to go up town today to pay some bills and other errands. It was a lovely warm day to do it, but the wind was so strong it was sending sand flying everywhere including our mouths ... blech! The town fairies were out in numbers watering down the streets and cleaning up, patching holes, etc. The winds have died down now and it's clouding over a bit; ah, shucks!

TRISH ~ glad that you decided to come back and rejoin us. I find this group very encouraging to me on my journey. I am chipping away at it, bit by bit. Seeing lots of improvement over this last year. I hope to see about 4 lbs off by end of next month to get over the 100 lb mark. I'm just delaying the weigh-in becuz I lose rather slowly (2-3 lbs a month over the winter).

I just noticed that it was a new month when I was doing my monthly books (for the end of April; start of May). Then I had to change my calendar and came in here to see that I needed to make the new thread. We have good news that we are going to be able to build the small back deck and ramp this month. Managed to save up enuff to do it over the winter. The guy should be starting it very soon; I have to call him today as well.

Have a Marvellous Month of May, everyone ...

Thanks for the welcome back Rosebud. So sorry about DH friend and pray for healing for him and for God to give your hubby peace.

I always try to pray before I even got out of bed so this morning, I prayed for all of us here in this group that we would have a great OP day. Almost read all the April posts.

Rosebud - I enjoyed reading what you eat. I've tried so many things, but I've about decided to just eat healthy balanced meals. I can't do strict Atkin's type low carb and don't want to do more moderate like Ducan. I know someone who does that one and she looks great. #1 I can't go nothing but portein one day although I don't think I'd have problems with eating nothing but veggies the next. I really like having my fruit. We finally found corn-on-the-cob that is really good and DH and I both love it. I can give up wheat most of the time, but not willing to have to check for it in everything. I think it is great that Bootsie and others can give those things up and I know that I probably should and there are times I can do it, but I just can't do it on a regular basis. I'm just trying to eat healthier balanced meals at least 90% of the time.

I've learned I'm not a person who can plan my daily meals in advance because if I do, I think I have to eat it all even when I don't have time to get it all in for the day and I'm not hungry. So I am trying to track my calories, but track them only as I eat instead of planning ahead of time. However I do set a maximum amount that I will allow myself.

Rosebud - I noticed you said that you cycle calories and it seems to be working for you. I read about that and understand the concept. It makes sense to me. How do you figure you cycling? Do you have sets amounts for each day or just eat more or less depending on how your hunger is from day to day?

Bootsie, Bargoo, Gary and Everyone else

Have a blessed day!

YES, but I do have a rough idea of what I am going to eat, but it's not written in stone, and sometimes, I change my mind. I try to go between 1500-1800 most days, but at least once a week I don't mind if it goes up to my maintenance amount which is 2000 (like on Fridays).

What I do is -- I eat what I want and journal my calories as I go throughout the day. After dinner, I can see what I have left for a snack. I look to see what I ate the day before; if I ate low, then that day I eat higher. If I ate high the day before, I eat lower the next day. Otherwise, I go by how I feel: if I feel hungry, I eat more; if I feel OK, I eat less.

I do have a basic menu outline that I use each week, but I may change the meals according to what I have on hand and what we feel like eating that day. Here's a sample of what I mean...

MONDAY -- beef or pork with rice/barley/veggies; or new potatoes/veggies
TUESDAY -- either fish or chicken with salad, veggies, corn, etc
WEDNESDAY -- pasta: often with lean hamburger/ it varies what kind
THURSDAY -- fish or chicken; same as Tuesday; often switch them
FRIDAY -- baked pizza or hamburgers or subs or chicken tenders or bbq
SATURDAY -- baked/roasted or deli chicken/tators/salad for me
SUNDAY -- leftover chicken; either roasted, baked, or deli bbq; salad

Saturday/Sunday -- I usually plan chicken/turkey of some kind.
Monday -- pork chops, or roast beef/pork, or Shepherd's Pie, or steak
Tuesday & Thursday -- usually fish or chicken/turkey of some kind
Wednesday -- spagetti & meatballs, or tomato patties, or hamburg steak
Fridays -- we have something we love just for fun ...

NOTE: some days, we may just have hot dogs/beans; or a sandwich. Esp, in the summer, we eat more hamburgers, hot dogs, bbqs, salads, etc. In the winter, I make more soups, stews, oven dishes, etc.

BREAKFASTS -- I rotate between eggs/omelettes + 1 tst, or cereal, or a medium whole grain bagel/pb, according to what I feel like; and often start with a fruit (banana/orange). E2A: sometimes, I have a wg english muffin instead of toast.

LUNCHES -- again I just eat what I want; sometimes soup & sandwich, or veggie pita pizza, or leftovers, or eggs, if I didn't have that for breakfast (i.e. egg salad). I try to have tuna and/or salmon each week.

SNACKS -- I choose from fruit (esp apples/pears/peaches/berries), yogurt, UNsalted nuts, baby carrots, cheeze, whole grain soda crackers; and cereal (measured) or bread/pb, if I am short on my calories; tea/cocoa. I measure everything -- especially nuts, crackers, cereal, and cooked pasta (1 cup cooked).

Hope this helps ...

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PS ~ when I was younger, I could get away with a lower carb menu, but now I can't. I have to eat "some" complex grain carbs or my blood sugar dips too low, and I feel too hungry. And since I want this to last for the rest of my life, it has to be something that I can stick to. I can stick to this, and be contented.

I sometimes have corn instead of potatoes, but sometimes we have sweet potatoes or small "new" potatoes for me; or we may have beans, or brown rice & barley mix (half & half). Occasionally, I may have only meat & veggies & salad; but will have grains for breakfast & lunch.

I had to do trial & error for the exact amounts I used. Becuz I started higher, I try not to go below 1500, but often have to add something to bring it up over that. At the top end, I try to keep it around 1800/1850, but have a cap of 2000 for maintenance.

I figured it out for 1-2 lbs a week, but since I can't do as much exercise as others, I am using the low end (1850). Of course, these parameters don't always work out as they say. I lost about 2-3 lbs per month last winter, so you can see the difference.

For you, that would be between 1300 & 1800 calories per day; but you could probably still lose between 1450 & 1850, if you are moderately active. I am going lower simply becuz I am not very active (I walk with two canes); trying to make up for that.

RosebudYou are amazing with your menu! I wish I could be more organized with ours. Still feeding myself and 7 others is a chore on a tight or no budget...my dental hygienist said just he and his wife have found their food money doesn't last long enough before their next pay check. If a family of 2 is noticing, believe me, we are I was looking at prices yesterday and some have doubled, like for a bag of flour, in the last 3 or 4 years. Eggs have as well.

I am still impressed with you Rosebud, you are an inspiration.

I have been feeling some better. I know I have issues that I don't understand, but I need to move past that and try to do better with my diet with what I have available to me.

I am about a month into my experiment .
I quit Zumba, sugar free foods and ate only full sugar desserts to see if there was an issue with the artificial sweetener. I think I have had 2 sugar free things in the last nearly 4 weeks.

Pretty much right at first the heart palpitations were less severe in the night after stopping Zumba. However, I still get them, nearly every night and I am beginning to wonder if I get them and don't wake up and notice them even though I have them every night.

Weight-wise, it is pretty much the same as before. Even with no exercise and eating sugared desserts, instead of sugar free. And really changing nothing else. My weight has fluctuated about the same as before these changes, no loss and no gain. Odd, since exercising should be helping burn calories.

I am finding I need more sleep than I used to. I have always needed alot of sleep, but now I feel the best after a good 8 hours minimum. One night we went to sleep at 9:30 and I probably got around 9 hours or so of sleep, interrupted some, but a good nights sleep and I felt much better.

headaches and neck pain really related to how I sit and look at the computer. I really need to STAND otherwise my neck is a mess.

So the next step is to make some diet changes and see if anything changes. So far exercise didn't help much probably because it caused me more stress for some reason.

Rosebud You are a sweetie. Yes you are a real help and an inspiration. I remember you from the diabetic thread as well as this one when I was here before. You have really done great. I am so very happy for you. Thanks so much for taking the time to share all this info with me. I printed it out for reference. I could do 1400 to 1800. My doc told me in the beginning to eat 1800 calories, but I'm from the days when we ate 1000 to 1200 calories a day and that seemed way too high so I talked him into 1400.
Journaling as I go is the way I like to do the calorie counting. I use livestrong.com right now, but I used to just use a college spiral notebook and I think it would really be easier to go back to doing just that. You like a lot of the same foods I do and you are organized like I was when my previous hubby was living and our kids were home. Everyone pretty well knew what we were going to eat on each day of the week. It was easy to cook for them to because there was very little they didn't like. Unlike the present DH who is Mr. Picky. I have actually made up my own exercise routine. DH daughter, her hubby and 4 kids have moved in with us and my house is so wall to wall and I lost my exercise spot. So I actually do most of my exercise in the bathroom in the morning before I get dressed. Someday when she gets out of nursing school and has a job and move, I will get my exercise area back. Until then I just do the best that I can. I think the last time I was here that you and your hubby were working on a place to move into in the country. Am I right?

The main thing I have to do right now is get off the stupid chips (too much salt for me) and the hard candy I've got in the habit of eating lately. I include them in the calorie count so it doesn't really hurt my bs, but I think the blood sugar would be even better if I wouldn't eat that stuff. Just have to stop picking up the stuff when I get that junk for DH.

Nelly - Do you drink coffee with caffiene? I used to get palpitations when I drank too much coffee. I switched to decaf for a while until the palpitations stopped. Now I drink only on mug of regular coffee a day and have no problems. I recently had 2 cups when we went out for breakfast and had no problem, but I wouldn't do that on a regular basis. I would be afraid of having the palpitations return.

Bootsie - How is TX? Were you in all those bad storms they had a while back? You are so blessed that your DH will explore and try new ways of eating with you. I think giving up wheat is smart, just wish I could get my mind around that concept. I used to do that and did well, I just can't seem to do low carbing any more.

Trish I was told about the caffeine connection, and I never drink coffee, I don't like it and I totally stopped drinking caffeine ever in pop because it keeps me awake....and the palpitations as well. The only thing I might eat that would cause it is chocolate, and I have looked and I'd have to eat quite a bit in order to get any where near the level of drinking a cup of coffee.

coffee about 133 mg for 8 ozs
Hershey's kisses, or example 9 of them is 9 mg

I don't eat chocolate every day, so I don't think it is caffeine, but if I am really sensitive to it, I suppose it might make a difference, although if I eat it at 3pm would it really cause palpitations during the night?

....good suggestion though, lots of folks drink coffee...

It feels like my heart stops, or a skipped beat.

Thanks, NELLY ~ I understand really, food costs a fortune here; I'm sure double or more what you all pay. When we were very young (under ten), we often didn't have any meat for dinner at all (ate soups & pasta a lot) -- so my brother would go fishing just so we could have some meat 1-2 times during the week. My mom would save up all week, so we could have a roast, chicken, or a turkey on the weekend.

Then we moved to a farm so we could grow our own food and raise our own meat. We had 200 chickens, 200 pigs, several beef cattle, and one milking cow (Betsy) who gave piles of milk. We also had sheep, geese, and a horse & two ponies, plus 2 dogs and lots of cats; and we boarded horses too (to help pay costs). We had a fruit orchard with apples, pears, and a big cherry tree (yummy). Smart move by my parents; so we were able to eat a lot better.

Then mom got a job in a nursing home as a nurse's aide; and Dad re-apprenticed as an auto mechanic (while still on the farm). Then we moved into town where they started two businesses of their own (one at a time). That helped us with food too; our store provided the income for our food, and we could get food wholesale through it as well. Once the store was going well, Dad started his own auto shop. Very smart once again.

Anyhoo, they had to try many things over the years. We've done the same. We had to learn to garden and be frugal. Today, we are blessed to have more where we live. With only two of us, it is easier but like you said, food prices are crazy. A jar of Kraft peanut butter is $8.00 each for only 1 kg; so I told DH this month -- sorry, you are downgrading to a house brand. He is a peanut butter nut, but said that's OK.


TRISH ~ thanks, and your welcome. Actually, we moved into town from the country. We rented for about three years, and last year, we bought a house. Heck, it's cheaper to own here than rent, and we don't have that many places available either, so they are building a lot here right now. So of course, the house prices are sky-rocketing; boy, we bought at the right time. Praize GOD for that ...

NELLY ~ many women get palpitations when they go through peri-menopause and menopause. I had some today when I was discussing politics with my DH; think I'll avoid that topic from now on. It has nothing to do with him, I just get so ticked off at all the political bull and mis-information that is shovelled out around here.

I figured you knew about the caffeine, but thought I would mention it. I don't know much about the chocolate, but doesn't sound like enough to be a problem. Of course, I don't know much about how it would/could effect an extreme sensitivity. I eat chocolate and have no palpitations from it. I pray you will be able to find the problem.

New here, just found your thread tonight and going to read the posts tomorrow, to tired tonight... seems like a real caring group and a perfect place for me.
See you soon!

Lily, welcome ! This is a great group of caring people, I hope you will join in .

LILY ~ glad you found us over here. It would be nice to have another Canadian join us as well.

Lily. Glad to have you here. I just came back to this group. They are a great caring group. Look forward to getting to know you.

HELLO EVERYONE ~ well, we have had lots of today and temps up to 78 F today. So thrilled that the guy came to build our back deck & ramp today. DH helped him; and they got it almost half of it done already. The guy had to go to work, so they'll start again on the ramp base early tomorrow morning.

It has clouded over now but becuz there is a sun roof over top, they will be out of the rain, if any comes; and the temps are supposed to stay nice -- so we are praying that they do. He thinks they should have it all done by Wednesday as long as everything goes OK.

Eating has been going well this month so far. I wanted to share the 4th/last week of April meals as well ...

SUNDAY ~ leftover roast chicken; new potatoes; veggies
MONDAY ~ hamburger steak & onions & beans; raw veggies w/ranch dressing
TUESDAY ~ beans & chicken franks; slice wg bread; raw veggies
WEDNESDAY ~ wg spagettini & HM bacon/pepper/chzy/tomato/veggie sauce
THURSDAY ~ baked fish; corn; salad; sliced tomatoes
FRIDAY ~ baked chicken wings; salad; 1/2 cup milk
SATURDAY ~ chicken breast; small new potato; corn; salad
SUNDAY ~ leftover chicken breast; np; veggies
MONDAY ~ lean rib pork chop; brown rice/barley mix; veggies

BREAKFASTS ~ egg/2 slc bacon/tst; 1.5 egg omelettes/tst (2 days); wg bagel/pb (3 days); eggwich (2 days); egg on english muffin/chz. Fruit: banana; orange; peaches; pears.

LUNCHES ~ pb sandwich; chicken salad sandwich; veggie pita pizza (2days); leftovers: chicken breast/wings (3 days); toasted tuna/tomato sandwich (2 days); soup; baby carrots.

SNX ~ apples; pears; baby carrots; nuts; yogurt; cereal; pudding; chz; HM bran muffin; tea; cocoa.